A Mistake
by Skye and Ty
Summary: After breaking Elrond's favorite statue, a young Aragorn runs away thinking his new family will hate him because of his mistake.


Disclaimer: Ha! If we owned any of the characters from LOTR, we'd be very rich young men. But alas, we don't. So we'll go back to living on frozen waffles….

Note: This fic is one in a series. It is written by Skye(The Keeper of Plot Bunnies) and Ty(The Weird One). It is also one of the first LOTR fics written by us, so please try to be a bit gentle in reviewing this one. You can flame us later when we're more comfortable.

Oh yeah, somewhere, Ty read in the books that Aragorn was raised by Elrond. God knows where he read it, but it works for the plot bunnies.

A Mistake 

Written by,

 Skye and Ty

            Estel ran through the forest, his breathe quick and labored. Tears streaked down his face, smudging away the dirt that covered it. He had really done it this time. Elrond would send him away for sure.

            The eight year old had only been tossing his toy in the air. He didn't know it would bounce on his face and then sail through the air to hit Elrond's favorite statue. The small structure was a beautiful carving of a large tree. Everything, down to the last notch in the bark was carved. 

            And Estel had destroyed it. 

            ' I'm such a fool.' The young king thought miserably. One of the younger servants had seen what the human had done.

            " Ohhhhh. You're going to be in so much trouble when Elrond finds out. Everyone knew you'd never stay here long." The young elf had sneered. Fearing he might be sent to an orphanage, Estel had fleed. If he was going to be sent away, he was going to go where he wanted! Right now, anywhere warm seemed nice. 

            The young boy wiped his nose on his muddy sleeve and noticed a small cave up ahead. His silver eyes lit up. Atleast he'd have somewhere to rest for a bit. 

~ * ~

            Elrond paced in his quarters. A fire blazed in his eyes that matched the one glaring flames in the fireplace. He wasn't mad. Not at Estel. At himself. How had it come to this? That Estel, the boy he thought of his human son, would be so afraid of angering Elrond, that he would run? How?!

            Elrond's twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir winced stood behind their father, not sure what to say. Finally, Elrohir spoke,

            " Father?" He asked, hoping the elder elf wouldn't take his rage out on the younglings.

            " Yes? What is it?" Was the reply.

            " Erm…perhaps more could be done if…we went out looking for Estel?" Elrohir hoped his tone didn't sound as if he was stating the obvious. Which he was.

            " Yes. That might work better. Estel won't be found if we simply stay here waiting for him to come back." Elladan agreed. Elrond stopped his pacing and put a hand to his temples. He waved his free hand towards his sons.

            " Yes, yes. Prepare three horses. I will join you in a moment."

~ * ~

            Estel shivered. The cave was dry. That was good. It had started to ran outside. And the cave had some nice dry timber in it, so the boy was able to start a fire. But did it have to be so blasted creepy?!

            The child jumped whenever he thought he saw movement and covered his head with his cloak when the wind howled. Usually, on nights like this, Estel would run to his foster father's or brothers' rooms, but obviously he didn't have that option now. His teeth clattered, even though the cave was quite warm. He felt as if something was watching him.

~ *~

            Eight legs clacked against the stone of the floor of the cave. The legs belonged to a spider and it was very hungry. Just to the predator's luck, a fresh young human was halfway into the cave. An unsuspecting human as that. The spider clicked it's fangs. An easy meal. Not bothering to have the advantage of surprise, the starving spider lunged at the human, enjoying the startled cry that echoed through the air.

~ * ~

            Elrond halted his horse. Elf ears perked up, the elven lord called his sons back.

            " Did you hear that?" He asked the twins. The two gave their father a curious look. " It sounded like a scream." Elrohir's eyes widened. 

            " You don't suppose it could be Estel?" He asked, worried.

            " Well, if it is, whatever made him do that is going to pay." Elladan growled. The three elves, urged their horses forward, calling their human's name.

~ *~

            Estel gave a strangled cry as a huge spider suddenly lunged from the shadows.

            ' Couldn't listen to that nagging warning in the back of your head, eh Estel?' A voice in the back of the boy's mind nagged him. Pulling a small wooden sword from his belt, Estel brandished it at the creature.

            If it were possible for spiders to laugh, this one would be doing it now. And it had reason to. A scrawny, short, human boy was pointing a wooden stick at him. It was damn near comical.

            Estel seemed to realize he posed no threat as well. So, he lunged forward and drove the blade of his "sword" into the small fire. Flames crackled and moved onto the weapon at once. In the blink of an eye, Estel used all his strength that threw the burning sword at the spider. It spun, the flames facing Estel, then the spider, then Estel again, then the spider, then Estel.

            ' C'mon! C'mon!' The boy prayed. The blade turned at the right moment and a sharpened, flaming stick was driven right into the spider's head. It let out a high pitched scream and scrambled about, scattering ashes of the dying original fire. Eyes wide, Estel backed towards the entrance to the cave. Suddenly, the spider flipped over on it's back, shuddered and then lay still.

            Breathing quickly, eyes still wide, Estel stood totally still for ten more minutes before he was sure the spider was dead. Letting out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding, Estel walked over to the spider. He pulled the sword from the creature, making a face as he wiped "spider guts" on his shirt, cleaning the blade. 

            " Thank you, oh loyal blade of the flames." Estel whispered, hugging his wooden sword close to him. He looked up sharply as the clear voices of his foster family pierced the air. They were calling his name.

~ * ~

            " Estel! Estel! By the Valar, where are you?!" Elrohir said rather loudly. Elladan glared at his brother.

            " Try shouting AWAY from my ear next time, dear brother." The twin growled. Elrohir chuckled nervously. Elrond sighed and rolled his eyes. Kids….

            Suddenly, a small dirt covered object hurled itself into Elrond's arms. It took the elf lord a several heartbeats to realize this filthy thing was Estel.

            " Estel! Where have you been?" Elladan said, jumping off his horse as he too realized who had leapt at Elrond.

            " I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to break it! I'm sorry!" Estel cried, sobbing into Elrond's tunic. The poor boy was exhausted and terrified. " And then I ran away and got cold. And then there was a spider-" Aragorn continued to ramble when Elrohir interrupted him.

            " Spider?! Did it bite you?" Estel shook his head and then lay still. Elladan let out a worried noise, but Elrond chuckled. 

            " He's sleeping." 

~ * ~

            Aragorn woke in his bed, sunlight shining on his face. Confused for a moment, Aragorn blinked and then the memories of last night came back to him. Running a hand through his hair the boy realized somebody had cleaned him, because there was no longer a coat of mud upon his hair.

            Elrond opened the door and silently entered the room. He watched the boy for a few moments. Why was this human so scared of Elrond? The boy had just broken a vase. Not ended the world. 

            ' Perhaps Estel does not know that, hm?' Said a mocking voice in Elrond's head. Time to show some love.

~ * ~

            " Estel." Said the soft and smooth voice of Elrond. Aragorn jumped. He hadn't noticed the elf was in the room. He lowered his eyes and fiddled with his blanket. Estel tried to look anywhere, but at his foster father.

            Elrond sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed back the future ranger's long hair.

            " Estel. Look at me." The human hesitated for a moment, but obeyed. Light browns eyes met blue ones.

            " I'm not mad at you." Elrond said gently, he lifted the boys chin with his smooth hand. 

            " But it was your favorite statue…" Aragorn said. Elrond laughed.

            " Do you think I would not keep a spare if it were my favorite? Do not trouble yourself, young one. There was no harm done." Estel stared at Elrond in utter shock and then grinned guiltily.

            " So, I ran away for nothing…" He said slowly.

            " Hardly." Elrond replied. " You running away helped me realize how much I care about you…and how horrible it would be to lose you." A true smile lit the little boy's face.

            " Really?"

            " Really." 

            Aragorn's eyes lit up.  " Does that mean I can go hunting with Elrohir and Elladan?" Elrond laughed and covered the small face with his hand.

            " No wonder I named you 'Estel'. You're so hopeful." Aragorn pulled Elrond's hand off his face.

            " Is that a yes?" Elrond laughed again. 

            " Maybe when you're older." There was a pause that spanned over about 2 seconds worth of time.

            " Am I older yet?"

THE END

 Well, that was a happy little story, neh? The next story will take place a number of years later when Aragorn mees a certain son of Thranduil.

And for the love of Aragorn, will somebody tell us how to make your font show up as bold and italic on ff.net?!

And remember, reviews feed us hungry writers and gets more stories out faster! 


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